Bush Comes To Santorum's Aid As Two More Senator's Desert
Himby Paul Johnson
365Gay.com Newscenter
Washington Bureau Chief
(Washington, D.C.) After nearly five days of silence, the White House has finally spoken out on Senator Rick Santorum's assertion that homosexuality is akin to bestiality, polygamy and adultery, but far from a condemnation President Bush is praising the Pennsylvania Republican.
"The president believes the senator is an inclusive man. And that's what he believes," said White House spokesperson Ari Fleischer at his Friday briefing."The president has confidence in the senator and believes he's doing a good job as senator," Fleischer said.
The statement was similar to one issued about the leadership of Sen. Trent Lott (R Miss.) in the immediate aftermath of his speech praising Strom Thurmond and the 1948 pro-segregation presidential ticket. As the remarks drew backlash, President Bush admonished Lott for them and said it was up to the Senate to decide whether he should remain as majority leader.
In an interview with the Associated Press published Monday Santorum not only tied gay sex to polygamy and incest but also called homosexuality "deviant" behavior that threatens to "undermine the basic tenets of our society and the family."
Bush's support for Santorum drew immediate condemnation from gay rights groups.
"We strongly take issue with the President and his assertion that Sen. Santorum is in any way inclusive of this country's gay community," said Human Rights Campaign Executive Director Elizabeth Birch.
"In his 2000 campaign, the President said he was a 'uniter, not a divider.' Sen. Santorum's remarks are deeply discriminatory and are antithetical to bringing people together. If this is how the President defines inclusion, then it clearly calls into question the depth of compassion in his conservatism," said Birch.
Birch called on Bush to directly address the substance of Santorum's anti-gay comments.
"The real question before us right now, is whether or not the President actually supports inclusion and equality, or if it is simply something that is convenient from time to time," said Birch.
Meanwhile, as the White House was showing support for Santorum, two more Republican senators were distancing themselves from him.
Oregon Senator Gordon Smith called Santorum's comments "hurtful" to gays and Maine Senator Susan Collins issued a statement critical of the interview.
Both stopped short of calling for him to step down from the party's number three spot in the Senate.
Yesterday, Collins' fellow Maine Republican, senator Olympia Snowe, said Santorum's remarks "undermine Republican principles of inclusion and opportunity," and Rhode Island senatore Lincoln Chafee said: "I thought his choice of comparisons was unfortunate and the premise that the right of privacy does not exist -- just plain wrong."
©365Gay.com Ltd® 2003
by Paul Johnson
365Gay.com Newscenter
Washington Bureau Chief
(Washington, D.C.) Small cracks have begun to appear in the tacit support Republicans have shown by their silence about Sen Rick Santorum's anti-gay statements this week.
Four days after an interview the Pennsylvania Republican gave to the Associated Press in which he equated homosexuality with incest, polygamy and incest, two GOP senators have spoken out.
In the AP interview, Santorum called gay sex "deviant" behavior that threatens to "undermine the basic tenets of our society and the family."
Thursday afternoon more than 200 people demonstrated in Philadelphia's Center City to protest against Santorum's assessment of gays.
The protest staged by gay rights organizations, the National Organization of Women (NOW) and Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) demonstrated at the intersection of Broad and Chestnut streets.
Following publication of the story Republicans refused to comment, and Santorum maintained he would not issue an apology. One of Santorum's few public supporters was Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn). Wednesday he said Santorum is not a homophobe but would not comment on the interview.
Thursday marked the first open rebuke of Santorum. Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) called the remarks "unfortunate" and said they "undermine Republican principles of inclusion and opportunity."
Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-Rhode Island) released a similar statement Thursday.
"I thought his choice of comparisons was unfortunate and the premise that the right of privacy does not exist -- just plain wrong," he said. "Senator Santorum's views are not held by this Republican and many others in our party."
Santorum is chairman of the Republican Conference, the GOP's No. 3 Senate post.
Snowe and Chafee are both moderates within their party but their comments are nonetheless noteworthy. With the story now being covered on a daily basis by mainstream media, including the Washington Post and CNN, Republican pollsters are trying to determine which way the national wind is blowing.
The GOP analysts are concentrating their questions on America's large swing vote. The undecided voters are said to be key to Republicans staying in the majority of both houses in Congress. If the numbers show a large number of people "uncomfortable with Santorum's remarks you will see more strident criticism by more in the party," said one GOP source.
The party operative pointed to the silence that at first greeted Sen. Trent Lott's racist remarks last year. "As soon as the party realized mainstream America was outraged the leadership moved to remove him from a position of power."
Lott resigned as Republican leader in the Senate last December after he praised the 1948 presidential candidacy of Strom Thurmond, whose campaign advocated racial segregation.
Meanwhile, a Mormon sect that practices polygamy has demanded an apology from Santorum for linking homosexuality with the practice of having more than one spouse.
Owen Allred, who heads one of Utah's largest polygamist sects, says the practice of one man marrying several women is a moral and religious tradition dating back to Abraham.
Allred says that when Santorum compared the practice to homosexuality and incest, he defiled polygamy as "immoral and dirty."
©365Gay.com Ltd® 2003
Santorum New Jesse Helmsby Paul Johnson
365Gay.com Newscenter
Washington Bureau Chief
(Washington, D.C.) Jesse Helms may have left the US Senate but his place as America's most homophobic legislator has been captured by Rick Santorum. The Pennsylvania Republican, the GOP's third ranking member in the Senate, says every decision he makes is based only on one guiding principle: what is best for the American family.
But, Santorum's definition of family clearly does not include gays and lesbians.
Two-parent opposite sex families, says Santorum, are good. Requiring people to work is good. So is banning late-term abortions and giving religion a greater role in government. Traditional welfare, on the other hand, hurts the family. Homosexuality, feminism, liberalism all undermine the family. Even parts of the Constitution can harm the family, he says.
Especially when the Constitution supports gays. Right now, the 44 year old is fuming over the a Supreme Court challenge to Texas' anti-sodomy law.
"If the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual (gay) sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery. You have the right to anything," he says
"All of those things are antithetical to a healthy, stable, traditional family," Santorum said. "And that's sort of where we are in today's world, unfortunately. It all comes from, I would argue, this right to privacy that doesn't exist, in my opinion, in the United States Constitution."
Santorum who calls himself "a compassionate conservative" has sailed up the ranks of the Senate Republican leadership with the help of the far right wing of the GOP. Should Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., retire in 2006, Santorum says he will seek the post.
"Sen. Santorum's remarks are deeply hurtful and play
on deep-seated
fears that fly in the face of scientific evidence, common
sense, and basic decency. Clearly, there is no compassion in his
conservatism,"
said Human Rights Campaign Political Director Winnie
Stachelberg.
"Discriminatory remarks like this fuel prejudice that can lead to violence and other harms against the gay community. HRC is calling on Republican leaders to take quick and decisive action to repudiate Sen. Santorum's remarks."
Other groups condemning Santorum's remarks were the Center for Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights, the Pennsylvania Log Cabin Republicans, OutFront, and the Pennsylvania Gender Rights Coalition.
In the Senate, Santorum has focused largely on social issues that are the core of Bush's "compassionate conservative" campaign platform. He successfully pushed legislation banning late-term abortions as well as a bill to give tax breaks for donations to religious-based charities. He has hired welfare recipients in his district offices, where he also staffs community affairs liaisons specifically tasked to help faith-based organizations get funding.
"The more I got involved [in politics], it really did open my eyes to how the left had destroyed so much," Santorum said.
©365Gay.com Ltd® 2003
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